Tips From the Barack Obama White House to Donald Trump Staff

As President-elect Donald Trump and his aides will soon discover, nothing prepares you for life in the White House. It’s part museum, part private home, and part cramped government office—just adjacent to hordes of television cameras and reporters. To mark the transition of power, TIME reached out to some of the only people who have relevant work experience, aides in the departing Administration, to share their tricks and tips for navigating life in the White House. The result, our cover story this week, Life in 1600. TIME Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs and Deputy Managing Editor Michael Duffy write on the historical nature of Trump taking power without ever serving in the government or the military—and the unique challenges that poses. Separately, 18 current and former White House staffers discuss the constant state of crisis, tiny offices, sleeping pills, tech support, and of course, taco Wednesdays.

Trump’s press conference Wednesday, was as advertised: a show. Here’s some of what we learned:

• For the first time, the President-elect admitted that Russia was behind the election-related hacks in 2016. This came after months of publicly sowing doubts.

• He forcefully pushed back on a leaked document purporting to be an intelligence assessment that the Russian government has compromising material on him.

• He picked a Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin.

• He will introduce a plan to replace Obamacare once his HHS Secretary is confirmed—breaking from the repeal-and-wait plans of some in his party.

• He will nominate a Supreme Court justice within two weeks of taking office.

What to know about Trump’s ethics announcements. The Director of National Intelligence apologizes to Trump. And the Sessions hearing turned political for Cory Booker.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

Life at 1600It’s one thing to be elected President of the U.S. Learning how to do the job usually takes longer [TIME]